


The Dungeons & Attics of Hogwarts

by etherian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Attics, Dungeons, Gen, Other, severus snape narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-29 00:53:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3876265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherian/pseuds/etherian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Professor Snape reveals some of the hidden, fantastical, mysteries of Hogwarts that are not detailed in Hogwarts: A History.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Library of the Attics

# The Library in the Attics

The Dungeons & Attics of Hogwarts began with this story on [The Professor's Tumblr Blog](http://masterseverussnape.tumblr.com/) on Halloween 2014. ~etherian

_"May your All Hallows Eve be as frightening as you desire!" ~SS_

 

 

It is generally thought that spirits - those that like to frighten the living - are all down in the dungeons but they are not. The dungeons are damp, cool, and darker than the rest of Hogwarts. However, if you seek the unusual even the terrifying then perhaps you ought to listen to this tale of "The Library in the Attics".

Over two decades I have traversed nearly everywhere there is to be found in Hogwarts. It is not a boast but a simple fact that I know more about Hogwarts than even its ghosts. I know… that at certain times of the year… smart witches and wizards, even if grown, stay away from the attics.

Hogwarts has a labyrinth of attics that are connected to each via a bridge of magic. One is not aware of such magic for the connection tends to appear as a curiously shaped doorway (much like a very large keyhole) that leads into the next room. I know of seventeen attics, the curious student generally learns of eight attics, and the Headmaster knew of twenty-three before he passed.

One of those attics appears as a library of broken, spoiled, and damaged books. It is the one attic everyone must avoid. Within that attic is something that wants the blood of the living. It is an aggressive, yet helpless creature that will likely terrify the hapless wanderer. However, on the night of its demise, the night when the Veil is at its thinnest between here and Beyond, it becomes hungry and deadly.

One night, when I was a student, and most often wandered at night from insomnia, I chose the attics as my place of exploration. I had discovered, over three years as a student, the eight rooms we students usually find. I found old clothing, furniture, weapons, geegaws, knick-knacks, and oddments galore. The attics were a place of refuge for this benighted Slytherin, and a place I rather felt as if they were my own secret.

Thus, to expand upon that secret, I endeavoured to find more attic rooms. So, on a night before the Day of the March of the Dead I left Slytherin House, ascended a secret staircase within the walls until I entered the first attic room.

The first attic was a mundane storage area for broken desks, and benches, once used in the classrooms of Hogwarts. This was the only room to have three doorways into the labyrinth of attics - one doorway in the centre of each wall.

With a determination, and later what I would call Gryffindor curiosity and foolishness, I tempted fate by choosing the doorway to my left. The left - as those in the know might recall - is Exitiabilis latere Obscuritatis - the Sinister side of Darkness.

In my previous explorations I had chosen doorways at random, with no thought as to what I might discover. This time was different.

I discovered an attic scattered with devices of torture, many of which had dark stains upon them I could only believe was blood. I found another attic that chimed with devices of Time that drew the eye with the gleam of silver and gold, or beautiful appearing gemstones. Sadly, none that I could touch. I then came across a room of curious statues of angels that watched every move I made. Before those statues I intrinsically knew I should not blink. I also knew, within every fibre of my being, not to touch any of the angels within this attic!

A third attic held what appeared to be musty, dusty carpets feasted upon by Doxies and likely hiding a Boggart or two, if not the rare Lethifold. As tempted as I was to examine these curious rugs, some inner sense again warned me not to dare linger in this attic.

By that time each doorway to the left of me that I came to began to call to me as a Siren might to Odysseus. I could no more turn away, and return to the safe confines of my House than a starving man.

That evening my discovery of eight attics became twelve, and then I had the misfortune to step into a thirteenth.

A library. A library of Darkness, of Damage, of Neglect, of Abuse… of books with broken spines, and scrolls with sections torn, eaten by those annoying Doxies, or burned.

The smell in this library was not of furniture oil, dry parchment, and centuries old ink. This library stank with the scent of ash, blood, and rot. A great arched window dominated this attic, and nothing touched or obscured it as though if anything or anyone dared to do so retribution would be swift, and painful. The window was a bloody crimson and although I had begun my adventure in the depths of night… light of some ethereal sort poured through that erythrean glass. The room… was bathed in blood… and felt quite gratified to be so.

I was instantly chilled as the atmosphere of the attic drifted over me. Nauseated, too.

I was terrifyingly fascinated, though. Journal, scrolls, and terrible tomes of Darkness I could not comprehend. I felt the misery of centuries bearing down upon my shoulders, and at one point I felt like weeping for the Souls damned that had known what was in this library.

Oh! How I wanted out of that attic! Yet, at the same… dreadful… time I felt compelled with a sickening turmoil to peruse those books, to unroll those scrolls, to know what was in the handwritten journals; their contents seductively winking as many pages were bent back by age.

And, then I felt the air move. You must know that there are no open windows in any of the attics… so I knew this breeze was not as innocent as it attempted to be. My blood prickled with frost.

_"Severus," a deep, dark voice from beyond the Veil tickled my ear, "take a book, my boy. Follow your temptation…"_

 The nausea drifted away as the breeze danced seductively around me. There was my temptation… like a living, breathing thing it filled my Soul, my heart… it made my blood sing.

I stretched out a hand towards one of the books…

_"Ohhh, yes, Severus… that one dear child…"_

I hesitated because as much as that voice enwrapped me in desperate flame, I was cold. Not cold from weather, or snow, or any such normal thing as that. I felt a deep cold that threatened to turn my bones into brittle shards, to harden my heart. It was a chill that promised to take me Beyond the Veil, Beyond the Warmth of Death, to the Fear that is Abaddon.

**"No," my voice rasped.**

_"Oh my child, my dear little wanderer…" crooned the voice as the breeze swirled with concupiscence that delved right down to my skin._

I had never felt so suddenly prurient… and at the same time I could not move, physically, from these sensations.

 **Merlin help me!** My Soul wept. I had not even touched a book, and already I was so afflicted by what existed within this attic I was terrified of being changed. Not so much as haunted, for still I must be to so clearly recall this night, but to be molded into something even I would not hunger to recognise.

On that night a Mercy touched my Soul. A benediction of warning I was given (never return!) and She released my feet from the miasma that sought to enwrap my very physical being into every fibre of journal, scroll, and tome in that library. To take of my blood a strength to sustain itself for another century.

**I ran!**

My heart beating so rapidly in my chest that I was certain it would burst painfully from my ribs. Through the right-hand doorway, and directly down my hidden staircase to the sweet coolness, the dark, torchlit world or my dungeons, of Slytherin House, of all that was my sanctuary.

I ran into the common room and ignored the curious stares of the few that were still studying, and went into my dorm where I leapt into my bed, and burrowed deep beneath my covers.

In sleep that night I was plagued by a figure of ghostly thinness that trapped me by my wrist as it gripped me with skeletal fingers. It wore robes that were delusive in white… as newborn snow… but I knew without any doubt that underneath was a corruption that such feigned innocence could not hide.

All night long I fought to get away from my nightmares until finally when I did I woke as I fell from my bed.

Nay, I was not content to push that night, and the subsequent nightmare far into the tangles of my mind. I wanted to know what that attic was; what existed within it that had wanted my living being.

Until the day I walked out of Hogwarts, no longer a child but as a man doomed for a more present evil, I searched for information on that attic. I found snippets of stories, bits of rumour, a hint of a warning to not seek to explore the attics on the night of All Hallows Eve.

What I learned was no more than what I experienced that night; something within that attic had wanted me… my blood. Had I gone the next night to that attic, the night in which we so blithely celebrate with silly bats, spiders, carved pumpkins, and magic’d fog in the Great Hall… I would have been forgotten to all. I would have been a broken book, a burned scroll, a rotting journal.

And, it would have been your blood that I hungered for… next.

_**~S. Snape** _

_**Written for All Hallows Eve** _

 


	2. The Spiral of Merlyn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stairs that lead below the dungeons known by all of Hogwarts with the exception of the Heads of Hogwarts, and Severus Snape.

_“The Spiral of Merlyn – these are the narrow stairs carved into the stone beneath Hogwarts that lead down into the harrowing labyrinth of the dungeons. This was one of the hidden entrances to the Chamber of Secrets.” ~SS_

Hogwarts appears to the wizarding world as an intact castle of architectural interest. To the Muggle world it is a ruin of little interest. So dull that the hapless Muggle that stumbles across the ruins he/she will not even photograph it.  They are unremarkable ruins that the Muggle eventually forgets. This is the benefits of a Fidelius Charm masterfully interwoven with an Architectural Glamour and an Unplottable Spell.

Hogwarts, since its first stone was laid down by the Founders, has suffered Natural disaster, various accidental fires and blasts from learning students, deliberate fires from angry students and terminated staff, and damage from war. Not just from the Final Battle you have read about in our histories but it suffered damage from a few Goblin Wars and from the monumental battle between Gellert Grindewald and Albus Dumbledore. Although Hogwarts has suffered, never has any witch or wizard since the Founders ever re-built it. It is sentient enough that She will rebuild herself. However, rooms, attics, storerooms, dungeons, tunnels, and more were simply... well, not entirely simply... were added on via stone manipulation, bequests of libraries to full rooms, and a variety of magical effluence.

The Spiral of Merlyn is old enough to have qualified for the first addition but in reality the Chamber of Secrets was first addition; the entrances came later.

The Chamber of Secrets was devised by Salazar Slytherin but built with the help of Rowena Ravenclaw who knew how to manipulate stone to her will. The Chamber was designed to hold Salazar's grand library of tomes, journals, and scrolls he had collected the world over. This library would also include those manuscripts found in the Muggle world and written by Muggle-Men of amazing intellect. As to the basilisk that Harry Potter found? No knows who brought it there as it was of an age that pre-dated the foundation of Hogwarts. It is possible that Salazar Slytherin owned the magical beast however we do not know.  Perhaps that is knowledge in the Journals of Salazar Slytherin; penned in his own, interpretation of Parseltongue. Parseltongue has no written word.

The main entrance is the one that existed within the second floor girls bathroom under the sinks. [This entrance was later collapsed by Albus Dumbledore.] This entrance did not move or change as Salazar Slytherin had fixed it in place with Parseltongue Magic. Only an heir, or someone inherited of Parseltongue, would be able to gain egress.

The Spiral of Merlyn was created by Sir Terence du Sang. He was a Slytherin who became a knight in the army of Rowena Ravenclaw where he met, and fell in love with her daughter, Helena.

Now, many know the sordid story of how Sir du Sang became the Bloody Baron after succumbing to a madness in which he murdered Helena Ravenclaw for spurning his love, and then he fell upon his own sword in grief. What is not known is that Sir du Sang was an apprentice to Rowena Ravenclaw and learned her magical skill of 'In-Organic Manipulation'; a pre-cursor to the more thorough discipline of Transfiguration.

Sir du Sang, with Salazar Slytherin's blessing, created the Spiral of Merlyn. The stairs, an impressive number of 48, was hewn, or created from, the bedrock beneath the castle. The stairs did not lead directly to the Chamber of Secrets but right at their midden, the 24th step, there was a particular set of stones in the wall that, if the witch or wizard exploring knew the Parseltongue charm, could reveal a wall that led into the Chamber.

The Spiral of Merlyn was to serve the purpose of becoming the Gateway to rooms, chambers, tunnels, and more, all beneath the castle. Of course, with the death of Sir du Sang the Spiral of Merlyn went nowhere after its landing at the end of the 48 steps.

By the time of the appearance of The Bloody Baron haunting the corridors and halls of Hogwarts the splendid Attics were beginning to take upon their curious form beginning with the appearance of The Copernican Observatory. Wizards and witches near and far were bequeathing their libraries and sometimes entire rooms, labs, and 'quarters of note' to Hogwarts. The additions were all becoming new Attics whereas the Darker wizards and witches were sending their rooms, journals, or objects for the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons as egressed via The Spiral of Merlyn.

With these arriving bequests it was Doromanicus Black, the first instructor of Defense Against the Dark Arts who completed work upon The Spiral of Merlyn. He then hid the entrance via a Moving Wall that had to be Summoned before it could be “unlocked”. Doromanicus, who was rather wickedly skilled in the application of Magical Riddles, used a Dark Charm to constantly change the riddle to open the door. It is not a simple tapping of stone bricks in the right order.

If one can Summon and open the door to The Spiral of Merlyn the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons will bring much enrichment to the intrepid explorer.

END

 


	3. St. Winimere's Cellar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bequeathed cellar settles in the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons.

**St. Winimere’s Cellar**

Before revealing the story behind St. Winimere’s Cellar a bit of historical education is required. The Wizarding World does have “saints”. These are not from any Muggle religious order but these are witches and wizards of particular note that have been honoured with the designation of saint.  One of our most well-known saint is Hugo Bonham, noted Healer who not only discovered much of our Healing Magics but was honoured by the building of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Saint Winimere began life as Winni NelieAna Burke born in a Pureblood home in 1115 AD to parents Bariq and Nelia Burke. At age four it was decided she was a Squib so her father took her to the Forbidden Forest where it was assumed the Thestrals would eat her or the Centaurs would enslave her. As it was, Winni was found by a Hedge Witch by the name of Mother Esmerelda. Her last name was never known.

Mother Esmerelda was extremely competent in what is now known as Mother’s Magic and Potions. She brewed potions for her patients who were often residents of the Forbidden Forest. These residents were usually unwanted Squibs, a few witches and wizards of questionable birth, Thestrals, Unicorn, and even Centaurs. Mother Esmerelda also treated various of the braver Muggles that made it into the Forbidden Forest.

Witch Hunts were taking place all over the world but in “small spates” that nothing big was made of them. The Forbidden Forest, still travelled and hunted in by Muggles, came under scrutiny by the Muggle world in 1123 AD. The Thestrals were invisible to Muggle-kind, the Unicorn knew how to safely vanish, and the Centaurs knew depths to the forest that no man or Wizard has ever known of. Vulnerable were the witches and wizards that took refuge in the caves that scattered about the forest.

Winni and Mother Esmerelda, all ready hidden within the darkest reaches of their cave were able to elude the Witch Hunters. Mother Esmerelda’s Healing business was greatly slowed as food became more of a necessity. At the age of 10 Winni was all ready a dab hand at canning food. Mother Esmerelda let Winni take one of their deepest caves in which to store her canned food.

At this point Winni, commenced her stealthy wanderings, and discovered that many Muggle plants, animals, and objects were not as free of the vibrations of Magic as was thought… by the experts. Calling the vibrations she sensed... Resonance, Winni began her research into the Magic of the Muggle World.

Winnie was a dutiful girl, though. She did not relax in her efforts to continue canning food for the hungry, she swept her Mother Esmerelda’s caves, and helped her to brew when she grew tired.

The Muggle Witch Hunters continued their sweeps of the Forbidden Forest and it was not long after the 1 Oct, 1125 AD that the Muggle Witch Hunters found Mother Esmerelda and arrested her. Winni wanted to try and save her from the Witches Pyre but she knew that the food and potions left behind were still needed. Grieving for the witch that had loved and raised her, Winni kept at her work.

It was an unfortunate few months later in the new year of 1127 AD that the Muggle Witch Hunters captured the last of the witches and wizards in the Forbidden Forest. Winni was one of that group, but as a child she was not burned upon the Witches Pyre, she was hung. Less than a month later Winni’s Cellar, the cave that she chose as her own, and where she kept both her study notes, the canned food, and much of Mother Esmerelda’s potions and work, arrived at Hogwarts.

Winni was bestowed sainthood by seven escapees from the Muggle Witch Hunters. They insisted that had it not been for a young Squib who found an ounce of Magic within herself to aid her fellow captives, they would not have survived.

END

 

 


	4. The Scourge of Thanatos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A folly.

**The Scourge of Thantos**

The Scourge of Thanatos appears as a simple, although somewhat shaky, path that follows the coastline of Hogwarts underground lake known as Abbadon’s Gate. The bridge is on the east side of the lake and stretches a measured length of one kilometre. It ends at a  ruin of a dock that was fancifully dubbed Charon’s Perch. There is no evidence that the Boatman of Hades ever sailed upon the lake and up to the dock.

The path itself is constructed of aged English Oak planks lashed with heavy, oiled rope to rails beneath the path that are supported by long, thick poles sunk deep into the earth and topped by old, greasy oil lanterns that burn with a sickly yellow light that never dies.

In the latter half of the 12th century the half-sister of King Arthur and mother of their illegitimate son Mordred, Morgana Le Fey, took over Hogwarts. We do not know the specifics of how she managed such a feat other than many of the protective wards that were fashioned later to protect Hogwarts from invaders was from the result of this coup. Morgana rid the castle of the students and staff, and for nearly a quarter of that century she made Hogwarts home. Supposedly she raised her son there but that is only speculation.  

Myth and legend tell us that it was Morgana Le Fey who built The Scourge of Thanatos in order to punish those who displeased her. It was said that as soon as a victims feet touched the boards of the path he or she could not move from it and had no choice but to travel to the dock whereupon the victim summarily vanished.

In truth, there is no spell, hex, charm, jinx, or curse that traps one’s feet upon the path. One can travel to the quiet dock without incident, and return as they came, and they do not vanish. Moreover, victims of Morgana were sent to The Merlyn’s Crystal Cave with a simple Banishment Spell where they were then Bound with another spell into a cluster of crystals. It was this unfortunate, and deadly habit of hers that led The Merlyn to devise a trap to capture Morgana within the Crystal Cave and Bind her with her crystalised victims.

As it turned out Morgana was killed with her son by King Arthur upon the battlefield that nearly fatally wounded the Grand Architect of Camelot. Not long after that battle it was The Merlyn’s lover Nimüe who imprisoned him within an English Oak and she hid the entrance to the Crystal Cave upon the Isle of Avalon after King Arthur was laid to sleep in healing within the cave.

The Scourge of Thanatos, as far as those that have explored it, found it to be no more than a folly shrouded by the mystery of myth.

END

 

 


	5. The Confused Playroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lonely playroom.

**The Confused Playroom**

This is a curious chamber that exists across the underground lake beyond The Scourge of Thanatos. It is, I ought to clarify, the only destination on the other side of the lake. When a boat can be found at the dock at the end of The Scourge of Thanatos the only place the boat will take one is the landing of The Confused Playroom.

At first glance the chamber appears to be no more than a curiously lit, and disappointingly empty cave. Yet, as the intrepid explorer advances down its curved steps carved into bedrock one notices the oddly placed pillars that seem to be supporting the chamber from the weight of the earth above it. Secreted behind one of the pillars is a chest of precious jewels. On top of the jewels is a long, thin, wickedly dangerous dagger. A Repelling Charm clearly keeps the curious one from taking either jewels or the dagger; the instrument of death is not meant for them.

One step after finding the chest of jewels the chamber transforms itself into the most luxurious of playrooms to be found in the castle of a king. There are toys encrusted with chips of semi-precious gems, stuffed animals with pearl eyes, simple wonders to behold. In fact, one might be tempted to linger, to play with the puzzles, to read the beautifully illustrated books, perhaps even to ride the rocking horse that gives the rider the sensation of riding a fine stallion across the gentle fields.

_What might stop the explorer?_

The two skeletons of small stature huddled against the wall. Their bony arms wrapped about each other as their eyeless gazes are centred upon the deadly dagger upon the top of jewels.

Do you know the story of the Princes in The Tower? This charming phrase refers to Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville surviving at the time of their father's death. Then 12 and 9 years old, they were lodged in the Tower of London by the man appointed to look after them, their uncle, the Lord Protector: Richard, Duke of Gloucester. This was supposed to be in preparation for Edward's coronation as king. However, Richard took the throne for himself and the boys disappeared.

_Are these benighted skeletons, these once living children that clung to each other upon death, the two princes?_

Who can say? It is theory only at this time for there is no clue to their identity nor why they died within this well-appointed playroom.

With a heavy heart one turns to leave the children behind. There is nothing more here. It is time to find another chamber in the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons of Hogwarts to explore.

END

 


	6. Abaddon's Gate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Lake is not the only lake on Hogwarts grounds.

**Abaddon's Gate**

This is the name of the underground lake that begins at the folly, The Scourge of Thanatos. In reality there is a tunnel deep under the water that begins beneath The Black Lake. Thus, the Black Lake feeds Abaddon's Gate.

Abaddon's Gate is exceedingly beautiful. The waters are a deep, sapphire blue that colours the entire cavern. The cavern is a dangerous looking rock of stalactites that drip from the ceiling and in some places those teeth of the bedrock meet the stalagmites of the substratum where they weave together to create deceptive arches that, should one pass through, will draw the unwary down into the sinuous arms of the Grindylow.

The Grindylow, magical creatures of razor-sharp teeth that adore the bones of children rest beneath the placid waters of Abaddon's Gate. These are the same, nasty Grindylow that have been seen in our Black Lake. These deadly, magical creatures originated in these cerulean depths.

The only way to cross Abaddon's Gate is upon a Ward-protected skiff that only has room for two passengers. The skiff has no oars, no rudder to direct it. Magic draws the skiff across the silver-blue lake to its only destination which is The Confused Playroom.

The origin of the curious name of the lake was first written of by Salazar Slytherin. The Scourge of Thanatos did not, yet, exist so Salazar wrote of his plans to create a protected dock for a magnificent ship to sail upon the lake. The dock nor the ship were ever created. Morgana built her folly. The dock with its skiff, according to a journal of hers, were “simply there overnight”.

 **In Morgana’s journal she writes:**   _Navigating this lake is treacherous. The spindly-limbed vampires are but an annoyance but beneath the placid water lies treachery in needle-like rock sprouting upward from the depths. It took simple spells to repel the vampires but I had to keep open a Revealing Charm to see beneath the mirror. I hoped to find some hidden cache of treasure or books on magic to render Merlyn my slave but there was nothing but an unremarkable cave oddly set with pillars whole and broken. My exploration revealed nothing of worth and so I returned to my folly. Thereupon I set wards and spells in place to return the rickety boat - following my course - to the cave should something arrive later._

 

The cave, of course, remained empty until the disappearance of the Two Prince’s of the Tower in 1438. There was no known magic to Richard III but he did have a mage who might have vanished the beautiful playroom the children were lured into.

In my explorations I have found dozens of chambers beneath that hold anything from treasures, to books, to old shoes. I had theorised that our Vanishing Spell did not just convert an object into un-joined molecules as it Vanished an object, but had that been so the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons would be filled with all manner of used handkerchiefs, uneaten foodstuffs; garbage. I had never been able to discover how the chambers collect their contents, nor why some only have a scattering of marginally intriguing artefacts, and some chambers appear to stubbornly remain void.

Although I would have liked to explore more of Abaddon's Gate, the treachery of the stalagmites both above and below the surface, dissuaded me. I could have used a Reveal Spell in such an adventure to avoid death but I have never been that skilled a sailor, nor was I that curious. I neither was concerned for attack from the Grindylow - Morgana’s “spindly-limbed vampires” - since a simple Repelling Charm would effectively keep them away.

I could not help my curiosity in regards to the name of the lake upon first finding mention of the name in one of Salazar Slytherin's rare journals: Abaddon's Gate. One would expect a gate to lead somewhere, not to be the final resting place of two unfortunate skeletons.

It was then I began to think that perhaps the Gate was not meant for air breathers but water breathers. So, as Abaddon’s Gate originated from the Black Lake, and I had a reasonable relationship with the Mer Folk who provided me with a fine selection of potion ingredients in exchange for ruby and garnet used to power their underwater devices, I spoke with their King.  

Trithonus is the Elder of the Mer People at least evidenced in his outer appearance of dark, ashen grey skin, tail scales that are more pearly-grey than viridian, and his hairy is all white. Trithonus has almond-shaped eyes that still hold the glittering sapphire of a younger Merman. His tone is often portentous but his words relate truth. The king revealed:

_“Beneath the gentle mirror lies a great depression that extends deep down into the earth and beyond. Yea, though the walls of the Maw of Hades glimmer with the heated breath of the monster; precious jewels none of us will ever gather. An unquenchable fire burns at the bottom, Master of Potions. There is no heat one’s scales can sense but the hungry flames can be seen in the darkness of that cavern. Go ye not below the water, Breather of Air. The Grindylow are the protectors of Abaddon’s Gate… and the beast that rests upon that fire. Be ye ware, Wizard, as it will be your flesh they shall flay with their teeth before the darkness of your gaze perceives a sight more terrifying than Salazar’s sweet pet.”_

A beast. Something more terrible than a Basilisk? A Water Serpent? It was possible. Water Serpents, or better known to Muggle sailors as sea monsters were rare but every once in awhile the Daily Prophet would report that a wizarding cargo vessel had been attacked by one of the serpents of the sea. A Water Serpent thrives upon magic and prefers the ships of the wizarding world to the more mechanical, or nuclear Muggle age ships.

If Salazar Slytherin had kept a Basilisk as his familiar then it was entirely possible for a Water Serpent to exist deep beneath the waters of Abaddon’s Gate where it slept upon a bed of magical fire. The Mer people, who often spoke of the mythological gods and their stories, would not hesitate in believing that a Water Serpent, a beast perhaps owned by Hades, existed in a deep hole under the placid water.

Of course I searched for the beast, and even the bejewelled hole under the water. I never found anything more than Grindylow and deadly stalagmites.

Such a world is beyond me now as I am neither teacher at nor Headmaster of Hogwarts.

My Apothecary, my daughter, and my wife keep me satisfactorily occupied.

END


	7. The Prison Gallery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunlight beneath Hogwarts?

**The Prison Gallery**

 

 

This is, in my opinion, the grimmest structure within the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons. This is The Prison Gallery.

The entrance appears rather pleasing with gentle beams of light streaming through the nine carved arches flanked on either side by simple columns, and one that appears oddly spiral. At the end of the Gallery is the reminder that beyond the iron gates are nine prison cells. As one steps forward, perhaps to indulge in that welcome sunshine, it is the first “window” that reveals rather starkly that this Gallery is not in any place where sunlight can reach it. Within each niche there is a hideous, growling gargoyle.

Legend, from the writings of _Calleo the Archivist_ , claim that each gargoyle was once a Dark Wizard or Witch that had been held in one of the nine prison cells. Calleo also records that these Dark Ones (as he terms them) were caught between the 9th and 12th centuries. Calleo also recorded that no one knew who turned the prisoners into their gargoyle forms. He did theorise that perhaps upon death their Dark Magic had to take a “safe” form that lodged itself within the niches.

Most curious about the prison beyond was that upon each cell being occupied the iron door became fused to the stone brickwork. No spell, curse or charm, could unseal the cells. Possibly, the skeletons of each of those witches and wizards lies within the dark confines where they died.

No record yet exists that identifies, or attempts to do so, those nine gargoyles. Our known history only records those Dark Magicals that wreaked havoc across much of the Magical World. Minor Dark Magicals, it appears by the records, were simply forgotten.

Yet, there lies below the depths of Hogwarts The Prison Gallery, the Nine Gargoyles, and the Nine Sealed Prison Cells. It is from this curious prison that we are aware of nine Dark Wizards and Witches between the 9th and 12th centuries that sought to wreak havoc upon our world by subjugating us under their ideologies.

The Prison Gallery and its sealed cells beyond the gate were formally bequeathed to Hogwarts upon the death of its Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black. The newly inducted Headmaster, Armando Dippet, recorded:

_“Received and Accepted, the Prison of Anextiomarus this day of 1942, May 1. As the prison is useless except for Historical Purpose I have consigned it to the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons. If the UnSpeakables should ever desire access they will be given this key. Signed herein: Armando Dippet._

The key was not with this document and when the Dark Lord demanded of Albus Dumbledore the “Gargoyles of Dippet” I am the one that had to inform my Dark Master that the key to access the gargoyles had long since vanished. You can be assured that I was properly disciplined for my negative report.

However, that aside, I did not tell the Dark Lord that, at the age of thirteen, after I had discovered The Spiral of Merlyn, I discovered the Prison Gallery through an ignominious door of oaken plank. The door had been set into a wall along a corridor of many door-less chambers of the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons. It was unlocked, rather rotted from the moisture of Abaddon’s Gate, and required no more than my curiosity to discover what lay behind that simple, un-Warded door.

The interesting idea behind the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons is that they are not as hidden as one might think. The only entrance is from The Spiral of Merlyn and once that spiral staircase is discovered all of below is laid out for the intrepid witch or wizard.

I have detailed what I know of the largest interests Below but there are, literally, hundreds of smaller chambers worthy of exploration. I found books, scrolls, journals from both witches and wizards I have never heard of in our known history books. I have discovered simple knick-knacks from clay to raku to porcelain. In turn, I also unearthed Magical Artefacts. There were hundreds of bolts of cloth made even from fibres I had thought vanished from our world. In addition to the cloth there was also to be uncovered beautifully carved wardrobes that held a pageantry of robes, suits, and dresses. And, that also led to a discovery of treasure boxes and chests of fantastical jewellery.

Before my retirement from Hogwarts I had catalogued thirty-eight chambers and the larger caverns I have put before you. The last room that I shall tell you about is the one chamber I gave a name to…

**END**

  

_The Nine Gargoyles of The Prison Gallery_


	8. The Lonely Chamber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus Snape admits... he wept.

The Lonely Chamber

_[The Cavern by Josh Eiten](http://josheiten.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-Caves-361510660) _

* * *

This chamber lures the explorer with the sounds of water falling against a cave floor. It is like many other chambers Below without a door so one can easily peer into it.

Carved from the bedrock, perhaps by the water that falls down into a shallow pool in the floor, it is easily as large and as tall as the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Dome-shaped with sharp-edged rocks and boulders that have protruded from the walls, the floor, and even a bit on the ceiling. They cannot rightfully be called stalactites or stalagmites. They are more like casual brush-strokes at a 45-degree angle from an artist’s thick paint-brush. Jewel-like bursts of deep green moss are tucked here and there between crevices, or existing by themselves upon hummocks around the small pool.

Instinctively I knew no one had given this chamber a name and I was rather delighted that I would be the wizard to bestow an identity upon this beautiful discovery. I had in mind something mysterious, lofty perhaps, not at all simple. Upon stepping over the threshold into the chamber I was swept by such melancholy, such depth of sadness, that I immediately dropped upon the floor and wept my salty tears into the pool at the base of the three waterfalls.

_I named the cavern: The Lonely Chamber._

I confess, this nearly seventeen year old boy sobbed as though his life had been shattered; considering the future I faced, perhaps it had.

My tears did eventually stop and I felt cleansed. I reasoned that considering how my life was at that time -- I lost my best friend, and I was about to take to my bosom a true viper of a master -- I needed a good cry. I was then able to look around at the cavern.

It was a truly beautiful spectacle. It was humid from the water that fell into its shallow pool, and for the first time I felt true warmth in my bones during my excursions. As I relaxed against a large, mossy hummock near the small pool, I decided that this chamber would be mine. No one else would ever enter it. That day I set up several wards that would keep the falls silent to curious ears, hide the entrance, and allow only myself entrance.

Once I returned to Hogwarts a few years later as a teacher (and a spy) I visited my chamber in the Dungeons Beneath the Dungeons and I wept as soon as I stepped over the threshold. I was not startled by the heavy sense of sadness as I had experienced it a few more times in subsequent explorations whilst still a student. It did feel odd to be weeping as I was so much older; Death Eater and Spy. Yet, the tears did need to fall, and I welcomed the relief the chamber bestowed upon me after my cry was finished.

I recall removing a pebble from my pocket and tossing it lightly across the floor of the chamber. I watched, a slight smile teasing my lips, as the pebble promptly vanished. A moment later I retrieved a book that I had painstakingly copied via a charm the night before.

_“I have brought you magical books in the past but this…” I held up the book to the waterfall and swore, for a moment, I saw a sloe pair of eyes rippling in that fall. “Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Mallory. ‘Tis a story about a king who became a legend on these British Isles. Within these pages the story also reveals The Merlyn.”_

I placed the book down upon a soft hummock of moss nearby and watched in wonder as all that the book was became particles that sparkled in the humid air, and then faded. An instant warmth of courage settled about my shoulders like a cloak.

_The Lonely Chamber was pleased by the gift I brought to it._

I had learned that all things not living would disappear once I let go of the object. You see, if I even had just a finger on whatever the object might be, the cavern would not take it. However, once my touch was gone, the object belonged to the chamber.  I had received other “touches” of comfort, courage, even empathy with some of the objects I brought to the cavern. Through trial and error I learned that somehow the cavern held sentience. It would find things such as quills and parchment, or swords and armor, as momentarily interesting. What my chamber truly loved, though, were books. Once I discovered this wonder I set about making copies of all of my magical books and brought them to The Lonely Chamber.

And then I brought legends, myths, tales to tingle the spine. Stories to fulfill The Lonely Chamber.

**END**

 

 


	9. The Entrance to the Attics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What are you going to look for, Hermione?" asked Harry.  
> "Student Yearbooks," the bushy-haired third year asserted. "I'd like to see the Marauders," she mused. "And, your parents, Harry."

**Entrance to the Attics**

_“The curious Entrance to the Attics. When the students explore the Attics very few get any further than this. The doors that you see are but one of thirteen entrances (no, you cannot see the others) into insanity-inducing Attics.” ~SS_

* * *

_The Phantom of the Opera Study by kidy-kat on DeviantArt_

* * *

 

There is not a student that has attended Hogwarts that has not, at one time or another, for curiosity, or just needing a hideaway, found there way to this inauspicious looking entrance to the labyrinth that are the Attics of Hogwarts.

The entrance has one visible door into the Attics but it is meant to divert the casual explorer from the dedicated explorer. Twelve more doorways exist that lead into various “short” rooms that comprise the False Attics. These are attics that most students tend to find, and although each are furnished (in a sense) with intriguing items, the False Attics are not the real Attics.

To enter properly into the Attics the door that you want will show itself after the hidden entry-way has been unlocked and triggered. To do so one must approach the wall candelabra of three candles with the one in the center unlit. Grasp the candle holder of this unlit candle and pull down sharply. It requires a bit of force so if you do not apply your strength without hesitation the candelabra will remain intact.

You ask, what will happen should I choose the wrong candle holder? What do you think would happen? You would break the wrong candle holder. One would expect, in such an eventuality, that you know a simple Repairing Charm.

The hidden entry-way is the clever design upon the floor. Smoother than ice when you look upon it when the lock is tripped the seams of the design will part as a flower that blossoms to reveal a lazy, spiral staircase that is only ten long steps in length. At the base of the steps are four open doorways in the shape of keyholes. One ought to notice that there is another design on this floor that is a compass rose. Every attic with four keyhole doors has the rose upon its floor. Unless you wish to get inexorably lost pay attention to the rose.

The Entrance to the Attics is not without its immediate charm. The curious will find a bookshelf that holds all the past Student Yearbooks. These are not the quaint, yet flimsy books, available to all seventh year students as they say farewell to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, and their friends and teachers. Those particular yearbooks are for doodles, notes, signatures, and far too many self-indulgent photographs. No, the Student Yearbooks upon these bookshelves have pages of sturdier vellum with magically painted portraits (that do not move) of every Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor student since Hogwarts opened its doors for the teaching of magic.

Next to be found are the logbooks of the teachers since the original Founders. These books, written in the quill of each teacher, include grades, notes on students, detentions and points given and taken for each student. Further logbooks to be found are from each of the Heads of Hogwarts, the Deputy Heads, and the Heads of Houses.

The more stubborn explorer can dig past that ephemera to where old tests, quizzes, lectures, essays can be found. I, of course, burnt all of my students work and my lectures and tests are kept only where I could find them. Cheaters are ever industrious in looking for ways around the hard work.

If you can find the very narrow door that leads to the hidden spiral staircase to the balcony level you will discover a small treasure trove of what appears as simple children’s pop-up books. These are much more than what is seen. These are Charms books that once were used to teach children aged seven to ten simple and fun Charms to instill a beginning of control to their magic. A century ago Hogwarts had a small Primary Magical School in which one of the main teaching tools were these pop-up books. There were other tools used but as to where they are now, no one, yet, knows.

**END**

 

 


	10. The Music Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Images:  
> Painting 1 by J. Song  
> Painting 2 from HDwallpapers

This attic is easily my favourite. I discovered the path to it in what was possibly my worst year at Hogwarts -- the year that Sirius Black almost killed me when I followed him down the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow. I felt then, as I do even now, that The Music Room had revealed itself to me because it was a wonder… a secret… that I needed to call my own. Indeed, I even gave this remarkable attic its modest name of The Music Room.

The Music Room is clearly, like most of the attics one might find, not entirely large or overwhelming… at first. Almost all the attics seem to react to the person within it. If there is more than one person that attic chooses the most dominant thinker as its blueprint for how it is seen. Thus, all the attics have a central theme to them but they will subtly change to accommodate its visitor(s).

The Music Room is perhaps the best example of this, and the dreaded Library of the Attics is next. For your consideration: The Music Room is replete with every sort of instrument to be found since… possibly… time began. However, one cannot see all those instruments at one time. The Music Room will select several instruments one might find intriguing unless, as I have learned, you think carefully and request to be shown other instruments in your thoughts.

The Music Room never over-crowds itself with its inventory. It prefers to settle a certain amount of instrumentation into a pleasing display against a backdrop of a nearly wall-to-wall mural of an Italian villa. The view of the villa, its gardens, and fountains is broken up by tall, Doric columns that reach to a balcony above that is lined with arched windows of stain glass.

Besides the instruments of The Music Room there are scattered marble benches between the columns, and the centre of the room has seven Louis XIV chairs upholstered in green velvet. No doubt the chairs are there for the pleasure of a listening audience.

Of course no music room would suit its instrument if the acoustics were not just perfect. A quick look at The Music Room, and one would easily think that the acoustics are not there. This is another facet to the magic of the room for when an instrument is finely played the notes surround the listener without deafening them.

One last aspect to The Music Room that I learned of as I taught myself to play the piano, teased the clavichord, and strummed the strings of a guitar, was that this attic would take upon the mood of the music played. Anger would bring lightning, and perfectly accompanying thunder, joy would cause the blooming of a profusion of flowers, melancholy would bring the calmness of dusk to the room replete with lonely crickets playing their own tune. Oddly, when I was in The Music Room simply to practice the piano, I would find myself comfortably ensconced within an Edwardian drawing room with a window that looked out upon a sun-warmed garden.

There were times, during the War, when I needed to escape. Not always was I able but when I could, more often than not, I would find my way to The Music Room. I nearly always went to just sit within its peace but invariably did I end up filling the room with music.

END

 

 


	11. Countess Gattmorissey's Treasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artwork: A Small World by Ginger Kelly on DeviantArt

This little attic is by far the easiest attic to discover and offers the explorer the most visual reward. The attic was once a room enchanted for Countess Anjeune Gattmorissey as a wedding gift from her husband, Count Bela Gattmorissey, upon their wedding day. The Countess bequested the much cherished room to Hogwarts upon her death in the late 1500s.

At first the attic appears to be a strange, little attic with a cathedral like ceiling and a window of stain glass. The longer one remains the more details are filled in. Ivy with leaves of dusty silver and heavy green sprout along the stonework and around the window. The flowers, fragrant with an aroma that is impossible to identify, bloom amongst the ivy; most appearing white but just a touch hidden are colours of yellow, pink, sky blue, and deep crimson. When one can spot the flowers of red that is when the water begins to flow.

The water carves a delicate path meandering down the center of the attic until it widens against the far wall. The water vanishes beneath the rising rocks. At that moment you will hear another source of water spilling into the first; a crystalline waterfall of the finest, and purest water known.

Tiny koi will then populate the small pond and if one looks carefully one might see sparkling fae folk. There is also to be seen whimsical gnomes that inhabit tiny houses hidden in the ivy and flowers.

Now, there are also, amongst this idyllic settings, hidden danger as well. The flowers are all edible but each one creates a variety of sensations from hallucinations to sleep to shrinking one to the size of the small houses until the waterfall becomes huge and the satin glass window is a multi-coloured sun. The leaves of the ivy will either cause one to babble on in a dead language, or speak truths from history.

As for the water… drink from the pond and you will dream that evening of your deepest desire. Drink of the waterfall and you will simply turn, leave the enchantment behind, along with your memories of the room.

As a Potions Master I must caution you to never experiment with anything in this attic; you are liable to poison yourself.

END

 

 


End file.
